The Editorial this week highlights:- a. World Happiest Countries list revealed by UN. b. The World Tourism & Travel Council’s (WTTC) 2019 Summit is coming with Former President Barack Obama of the USA as Key Note Speaker. c. SEX & Seychelles 50 Rupees Note. d. Air Seychelles becomes a hot topic for the Seychelles. e. African Tourism Board making major inroads in all that is African Tourism (President Obama, WTTC and the African Tourism Board: A major push for Africa visibility). f. Alpha Blondy to perform live in Seychelles. g. Outdoor eating areas are gaining popularity . h. Sly, the entertainer at Chilly Bar on Friday Nights. Stand alone articles this week:- 1. Seychelles excursion recognised for promoting local tradition – Mason’s Travel has the Thomas Cook’s Local Label. 2. Seychelles islands are lacking good 3 to 4 stars hotels – Guillaume Albert. 3.Tourism Managers on the move – Nico Vivier new GM at Avani Seychelles. 4. Deep Ocean Live: Day 2 in full. 5. Deep Ocean Live: What you missed. 6. General Manager of Raffles Seychelles nominated for “Traveller Made” . 7. Fish Trap, the purpose built stand alone La Digue Restaurant. 8. The Seychelles Serves Up The World’s Best Beaches and… Curried Fruit Bat!?. 9.10th season of Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) black parrot breeding monitoring. 10. UK Hydrographic Office works with Seychelles government to help tackle piracy in the Indian Ocean. 11. Word about Aviation from the Secretary General of AFRAA. 12. 5 ways to keep plastic out of the world’s oceans. 13. World’s Happiest Countries In 2019 according to the United Nations. 14.Casino Tourism: The relationship between Casino and Tourism. 15. Another cohort of Seychellois students graduate at the Shannon College; Seychelles welcomes another set of hospitality professionals. 16. ‘Seychelles Discovered Roadshow’ marches north in the UK. 17. Closing Notes.

Alain St.Ange

World Happiest Countries list revealed by UN

The United Nations has issued its list for 2019 of the World’s Happiest Countries and Seychelles and Africa’s 54 States misses the top 52 Country list. Happiness is an essential component for a people’s well being and the question that begs an answer is why are we missing a position in the top 52 out of 156 countries.

The Power of A Good Laugh

Laughing feels good. It also serves various social purposes, for example, it promotes closeness in a group or can serve to release a tense atmosphere. But apart from these short-term effects, humans also seem to profit from laughing on the long term. Laughing makes us happier.

The World Tourism & Travel Council’s (WTTC) 2019 Summit is comingwith Former President Barack Obama of the USA as Key Note Speaker

Former President Barack Obama of the USA

The World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Global Summit 2019 has been confirmed and will be held from April 2, 2019 – April 4, 2019 at the FIBES – Conference and Exhibition, Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos, Av. Alcalde Luis Uruñuela, 1, Sevilla, 41020, Spain. Former President Barack Obama of the USA is scheduled to speak at this coming WTTC global summit. The 44th president of the US has been confirmed as headline speaker at the event in Seville on April 2-4. The WTTC described Obama as the “natural choice” as a headline speaker for the conference which carries the theme of ‘Changemakers’ to celebrate the people and ideas who are defining the future of the sector.
Former President Barack Obama served at the White House between 2009 and 2017 amid global economic uncertainty, heightened security concerns and environmental risk.

WTTC president and CEO Gloria Guevara said: “We are humbled and honoured to be hosting such an important leader as President Barack Obama at our global summit this year. “During his time in office he embodied the notion that travel and tourism is a driver of economic growth and creator of jobs. “WTTC now looks ahead to April to welcome the many insights that president Obama will share with our members and delegates. “His vision will help us to shape the future of this important sector.”

Standing with Gloria Guevara, the WTTC President and CEO

It will be my honour and pleasure to be a delegate once again at this year’s WTTC Global Summit. I have been a regular delegate at WTTC Summits and appreciate having been invited once again to be at the biggest Tourism Private Sector Trade Summit this year, as a Tourism Consultant and head of the weekly Saint Ange Tourism Report.

SEX & Seychelles 50 Rupees Note

Two weeks ago we reported the 50 Rupee Seychelles Note that was in circulation when Seychelles was still a British Colony. This article brought in a lot of feedback on and about the word sex that appeared on the note. One interesting email came in from Mike King-Harman which said:- “You repeat the ill informed media’s comments regarding the origin of the SR50 note. It was designed by Wendy Veevers-Carter and reflects her sense of humour. She died last year and a couple of weeks ago her children – Ming, Rory and Digby- came out and flew to Astove to spread her ashes there; a very emotional trip for them all as it was their first time back since living here as kids”.

Cover of Book by Wendy Veevers-Carter

Wendy Veevers-Carter wrote the book ‘Island Home’ which was about the Veevers-Carter life on Remire island in the early 60s. They gave up the lease of Remire and leased Astove but Mark Veevers-Carter, husband of Wendy died in a dentists chair in Mombasa in 1970. Mark originally came to Seychelles as a fisheries officer and they lived at Auberge Danzilles. The house they built (though not completed) on Astove has been renovated by IDC and is the accomodation for visitors.

Air Seychelles becomes a hot topic for the Seychelles

Remco Althuis, CEO of Air Seychelles and
Jean Weeling-Lee, chairman of Air Seychelles.

Only in March this year Air Seychelles declared its 2019 transformation plans only to see themselves called to answer questions in the Seychelles National Assembly alongside Minister Didier Dogley, the island’s Minister responsible for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine. President Danny Faure recently announced an annual amount from the country’s budget aimed at supporting the airline, but senior staff salaries have raised many an eyebrow because what they earn is not in-line with the norms in the country. The submission that some are being paid by Etihad Airline was fast dismissed because Air Seychelles (and now the People of Seychelles) remained ultimately responsible for paying all the bills.

The airline has now become but a regional airline with only three destinations (South Africa, India and Mauritius) on its permanent route schedule and Madagascar as a seasonal route which is why fixed operating expenses are under the microscope.

African Tourism Board making major inroads in all that is African Tourism

(President Obama, WTTC and the African Tourism Board: A major push for Africa visibility)

Africa Tourism is hot right now. The following editorial is taken from eTN Global Travel News:-

Saint Ange Tourism Report takes this opportunity to acknowledge the work of Elsia Grandcourt, the Director for Africa at the UNWTO and that of Minister Najib Balala of Kenya who is the current Chair of CAF at the UNWTO.

Africa Tourism overlooked in the past, the tourism potential of the African continent is now becoming visible.

The first African Tourism Board (ATB) is about to be launched in Cape Town during the upcoming World Travel Market Africa in South Africa on April 11 with a list of impressive speakers, ministers, private industry leaders, and stakeholders attending.

A week before the ATB launch in Cape Town on April 11, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) is getting ready for their annual summit in Seville, Spain. With a price tag of $4,000 for a delegate to attend the summit, WTTC is catering to the hundred largest companies in the travel and tourism industry.

In Cape Town at the African Tourism Board launch, former UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai and a number of tourism celebrities and stakeholders from both larger and smaller entities will gather to discuss tourism in Africa.

ATB expects a good number of African tourism ministers, head of tourism boards, stakeholders for major and not so major private enterprises to attend.

Speakers include Dr. Taleb Rifai, former Secretary General of the UNWTO, Geoffrey Lipman, president of ICTP and SunX, Dr. Peter Tarlow, an expert for travel security and safety working with certified.travel. The host Carol Weaving, director of Reed Exhibition and the World Travel Market will welcome all guests.

Speakers also include Alain St.Ange, former minister of tourism for Seychelles, and marketing experts from the U.S., India, Israel, and Germany.

A number of surprise guests including ministers of tourism and known leaders in the global travel and tourism industry are expected to give their view and input on African Tourism.

Everyone attending wants to show their excitement and support for the new African Tourism Board and potential Africa has for new tourism developments. It’s free to attend the African Tourism Board launch event.

In the last 7 days, the news on tourism growth for African destinations couldn’t have been better and must have come as a surprise. WTTC issued release on their research reports for Africa. eTN received such releases not only from WTTC but also from ministers, embassies, and tourism boards showing their pride and maybe their surprise and encouragement.

African Tourism Board interim Chairman Juergen Steinmetz, who is also CEO of the eTN Corporation, owner of eTurboNews, which is a media partner for WTTC, applauded Gloria Guevara, CEO of WTTC, for putting Africa in the spotlight for the world’s largest travel and tourism companies.

Alpha Blondy is coming to Seychelles and will be performing live to his thousands of faithful fans. This visit is at an important time because Reggae Music has now been immortalized by UNESCO as a form of art and Reggae stars and fans across the globe are awash with praises for UNESCO which has landed the art on its Cultural Heritage List. UNESCO described reggae as the “most beautiful” heritage because it “does not only seek to bring people together but also represents the diversity of the intangible cultural heritage, to highlight the know-how of communities”.
In making the decision, UNESCO was almost singularly focusing on the lyrics and work of the late Bob Marley but also to his country and colleagues like Bunny Wailer, Steel Pulse, etc… Unequivocally, the entire reggae fraternity was unanimous about such an accolade to Bob, his colleagues and Jamaica.

But leading African reggae artists and especially the legendary Ivorian star, Alpha Blondy took credit to speak on behalf of the reggae fraternity.

Reacted on behalf of the fraternity, he said reggae was not just a “fashion phenomenon”.

He harped on the fact that the world has come to understand that reggae is not just a fashion phenomenon because injustice is not a fashion, God is not a fashion, poverty is not a fashion, misery, and war is not a fashion”.

“It is a great pride and at the same times a great humility. To know that the work we do, that the messages we send have not fallen on deaf ears and that the humanity we defend by glorifying it, by denouncing its failings, Ok this humanity deserves to be also celebrated, to be respected,” Blondy told Reuters in Abidjan.

The UN body highlighted the “contribution” of this music to international awareness “on issues of injustice, resistance, love and humanity.

“While reggae was initially the voice of marginalized communities, it is now played and adopted by a large part of the population, regardless of ethnic or religious groups,” added UNESCO.

Reggae emerged in Jamaica in the late 1960s is increasingly been heralded by African artists like icons like the late Lucky Dube, Tiken Jah Fakoly, and notably Yannick Noah, the Franco-Cameroonian world tenis star-cum musician.

Source:- African Daily Voice

Outdoor eating areas are gaining popularity

Alpha Blondy is coming to Seychelles and will be performing live to his thousands of faithful fans. This visit is at an important time because Reggae Music has now been immortalized by UNESCO as a form of art and Reggae stars and fans across the globe are awash with praises for UNESCO which has landed the art on its Cultural Heritage List. UNESCO described reggae as the “most beautiful” heritage because it “does not only seek to bring people together but also represents the diversity of the intangible cultural heritage, to highlight the know-how of communities”.
In making the decision, UNESCO was almost singularly focusing on the lyrics and work of the late Bob Marley but also to his country and colleagues like Bunny Wailer, Steel Pulse, etc… Unequivocally, the entire reggae fraternity was unanimous about such an accolade to Bob, his colleagues and Jamaica.

But leading African reggae artists and especially the legendary Ivorian star, Alpha Blondy took credit to speak on behalf of the reggae fraternity.

Reacted on behalf of the fraternity, he said reggae was not just a “fashion phenomenon”.

He harped on the fact that the world has come to understand that reggae is not just a fashion phenomenon because injustice is not a fashion, God is not a fashion, poverty is not a fashion, misery, and war is not a fashion”.

“It is a great pride and at the same times a great humility. To know that the work we do, that the messages we send have not fallen on deaf ears and that the humanity we defend by glorifying it, by denouncing its failings, Ok this humanity deserves to be also celebrated, to be respected,” Blondy told Reuters in Abidjan.

The UN body highlighted the “contribution” of this music to international awareness “on issues of injustice, resistance, love and humanity.

“While reggae was initially the voice of marginalized communities, it is now played and adopted by a large part of the population, regardless of ethnic or religious groups,” added UNESCO.

Reggae emerged in Jamaica in the late 1960s is increasingly been heralded by African artists like icons like the late Lucky Dube, Tiken Jah Fakoly, and notably Yannick Noah, the Franco-Cameroonian world tenis star-cum musician.

Source:- African Daily Voice

Outdoor eating areas are gaining popularity

Tourists and Seychellois alike are using the new outdoor eating areas

Sit down formal restaurants or take way shops were traditionally the norm in Seychelles, but the arrival of some sit down outdoor eating areas right in the centre of Victoria is now offering a new experience. The site where the former Children’s Playground sat is fast becoming an ‘alfresco’ dining area. Last week as I sat for a meeting with Muriel Dewals at her Box to Box bakery ‘La Boulangerie” I was pleasantly surprised at the number of visitors buying cakes and bread as I was to see the number of Seychellois and residents stopping for a cake and coffee.

Casual eating areas are now popping up in Seychelles and their popularity is increasing. The food at these new alfresco eating places is prepared on the spot after the order is placed and this is proving popular.

Sly, the entertainer at Chilly Bar on Friday Nights

Sly, the entertainer performing at Chilly Bar on Friday nights

Live bands were the norm many years ago and this luxury slowly gave way to a ‘one man band’ or piped music. Last Friday at a family dinner with visiting cousins I was pleasantly surprised to see Sly and her Band performing at Chilly Bar of La Louise. it is indeed a good sign to see local establishments contracting full bands to perform during restaurant opening time. This needs to be encouraged as it provides entertainment as it brings culture to be central to the daily life of the islands.

It is important to again acknowledge all who are diligently re-posting the Saint Ange Tourism Report weekly. Our Report ranges far and wide, from Australia to the Americas, from the Indian Ocean Vanilla islands to Africa & Asian and Greater Europe, with your continued support, which is greatly appreciated. You are helping us to grow from strength to strength with each new Edition.